Long term planning for growth remains paramount, said the Forum

Organisations should be careful not to get too caught up in managing the immediate consequences of the financial crisis and forget about emerging risks, warned the World Economic Forum (WEF) in a new report.

The reports also called on regulators to balance the immediate need to prevent further market disruption with the longer-term imperative to ensure growth.

There is a heightened risk of widespread contagion and further losses, said the report. This could be triggered by further failures of key financial institutions, massive consumer credit defaults or the unravelling of the $6.3 trillion credit derivatives market.

Sheana Tambourgi, head of the Global Risk Network of the WEF, said: ‘'We understand how difficult it is for organizations to look at future risks to growth in the midst of such turmoil but our experience shows that long term planning for growth remains paramount and neglecting it could be equally damaging.’

The report also looks ahead at coming trends and risks, such as sustainable development.

The report concludes that particularly in times of crisis it is critical that governments, corporations and other stakeholders come together to manage the immediate challenges and to prepare for upcoming risks.

The Global Growth@Risk report was produced in collaboration with PricewaterhouseCoopers.